Page 4 of Ensnared By the Stone Freak

“Welcome to my home,” Halvard said as he swung open the door to theAirstream and flicked on the lights. It was still fairly dark,as thoughthe lights had trouble fighting the shadows even inside what had to be my Stone Freak’s haven. A bed wasagainst one wall, cozy and surprisingly big. There was no sign of a kitchen area, but a kettle on a hot plate sat on a table. Everywhere I looked,I saw evidence of his profession: aset of shimmering juggling balls on a table, dozens of sharp knives next to them. Masks, costumes, and a whole lot of leather spilled out of an open closet. But there was also a long shelf filled with jars ofherbs, carefully labeled by hand in neat block letters, not herbs—teas.

“Thank you for the rescue back there…” I said, hesitating just inside the door, which Halvard had left open, possibly to give me a feeling of safety. Really, all it did was let the cold and slightly humid night air in, and I was beginning to feel it.

Halvard had gone straight for the hotplate and was making tea with quick, experienced hands—a ritual he’d performed a million times. It was a domestic sight that looked impossible when performed by a dark-haired man wearing all black leather. And yet, he wasstillwearing sunglasses, even though we were inside and it was quite dark.

I opened my mouth to ask him why when my eyes caught on the windows that dotted the traveling home’s interior. There weren’t many, and they were small, buteach wascovered from the inside with some kind of shimmering black foil. There was no way to look out of them, and I hadthe distinctfeeling that looking in wasjust asimpossible. Why had he done that?

“I still don’t know your name, darling. I think I deserve to know your name, don’t you?” my host drawled, twisting around to look at me through his dark glasses. He propped himself against the side table, posing in a long, dark line of sinew and muscle. His chestwasbare and visible through the open front of his leather jacket, and my mouth went dry as I staredathis abs rather than his face.

“It’s Camryn Mayfield,” I said by rote. “Cam or Cammy to my friends.” I didn’t know why I added that;it wasn’t like anyone but Lis called me Cammy. Over the past year, I’d sort of drifted away from all my other friends—not that I’d been particularly close to anyone. Except Lis,of course, but she was the only one who truly understood my relationship with my father, and I the one she had with hers.

“Nice to meet you, Cammy,” Halvard said, and I shivered at the sound of my name coming from his lips. He was too sexy, and that voice sounded like sin. He said my name the way a lover might in bed, twisting my insides with desire and nerves.Once upon a time,I had thought Thorne was potent, but Halvard was in a league of his own.

He straightened from the side table with his tea setup and prowled closer. Steam was beginning to waft from the kettle behind him, but he paidit no heed. “So, Cammy, tell me—why was that man after you? If I’m going to be protecting you, I’d like to know why.” His question made my mouth go dry. I did not want to talk about Thorne to anyone, least of all this sexy-as-sin man—thisman I’d decided could possibly be my first foray into passion again. If I was even capable of that kind of thing.I felt it in my belly when I looked at him, so I was hopeful for the first time in months. The first stirrings that told me Thorne was wrong.

I twisted my head to look out the open doorandsaw nothing but shadows and the glittering lights of the carnival beyond the nearest row of mobile homes. Then I leaned out and caught the door handle, purposely pulling it shut,enclosing us inside the warm but slightly gloomy interior of Halvard’s home. “I don’t want to talk about Thorne,” I said to my companion. “I want to learn more about you.” That was a cliché pickup line I’d had turned on me more than once, but I meant it.I really did want to know more about him. I wanted to know everything, because he was the most interesting person I’d ever met.

Halvard angled his face toward the closed door, takingit in and analyzing what I meant by doingso. His mouth twisted into a slightly sinister smile again, but I didn’t feel scared. If anything, I felt safer now that the door was closed and I knew nobody could look inside. I’d beenterrified back in the ring, kneeling at his feet as he spun and spun in gentle, languid rotations—scared out of my mind when I’d pricked my finger and he’d sucked the wounded digit with his warm, sinful mouth.Butnow,I was all outof fear. That confrontation with Thorne haddrainedthe last of it. All that remained was the simmering, moltendesire I felt for this stranger.

He stepped closer, his body heat crashing against my chilled skin. A big man with the body of an athlete, he towered over me,but thatonlymade me feel sheltered. I wanted him even closer, so I reached out and grabbed the lapels of his jacket. “You feel it?” I asked, my voice little more than a breathy whisper. When he nodded, I raised myself on my toes, and he dipped down. Our mouths met in the middle—a meeting of body and soul that felt profound,somehow.

The kiss went from a fervent meeting to a clashing of wills, of fire and passion. His arm came around my middle, yanking me close, lifting me. I felt the door press against my back,thecool metal chilling me through my jacket, while he was an inferno against my front. His cock pressed shamelessly against my belly, a steel bar contained by his leather pants. It was so blatant, so wild, that all I could do was surrender—cling to him and let him take. I loved it;my body loved it. It sang for him.

He was the onewhobroke the kiss, long after the kettle had begun whistling with a pure,high note. It was thenthatI saw he still wore those dark glasses, and before I could stop myself, I reached up and impulsively pulled them from his face. I wanted to know the color of his eyes so badly that I did not stop to ask, did not stop to consider the consequences.

For a long second,we stared into each other’s eyes. His wereasblack as jet, as coal, shimmering like mirrors. They held me ensnared, trapped in his gaze, and I didn’t want to move—I just wanted to keep staring, as ifhis eyes were magnets to mine,drawing me in,and all I wanted was to cling there.To see into his soul,tolet him see into mine, andtospill all my deepest,darkest fears and secrets. I had never felt that way before—so unguarded, yet so fearless—and it made me feel like I was flying.

Then Halvard snapped his eyes shut with a growl, his entire body jerking backward, away from me. “Ah, curse it! Cammy, what did you do?!” I stared after him,wide-eyed, as he fumbled,eyes scrunched shut,past his open, spilling wardrobe to a cabinet with drawers. Blindly, he began to search for something, his hands knocking over a small lockbox and a bowlfilledwith glittering gemstones.

He was making such a ruckus that he didn’t hear my heels clicking on the wooden floorboards. “What are you looking for? Can I help?” I asked, sounding contrite.Guilt twisted in my chestbecause I’d caused this with my impulsive actions. I should have knownbetter; obviously, he wore them for a reason. At the sound of my voice near his elbow,he jerked back, his shoulders straightening and his headlifting. There was a mirror above the chestofdrawers, and our gazes collided in it. His eyes glittered fiercely, his expression grim and shocked, and hislips curled back intoan angry snarl. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he appeared to have fangs—like a vampire, or maybe more like a vicious dog or wolf—but that was silly. Almost as silly as a man freaking out over the loss of a pair of shades.

“You’re not stone,” he said, his snarl dropping to makewayfor confusion. “How are you not stone? You looked me right in the eye, from really close, for at least a second. Cammy, you should be frozen in place…” He flung out a hand and pointed at the spot near the door where we’d been a moment ago. “A statue…” My eyes grew as wide and surprised as his still were when I began to put together what had happened.

“You think your gazereallyturns people to stone? Halvard … that’s impossible. It was just an act, a show. I’m sure those guys were your colleagues, plants in the audience. You don’t have to keep up the act for me.” My words made him bark out a raw, husky laugh, and then he slowly turned around, his gaze hooded as if he feared looking at me. As his eyes opened and connected with mine—not through the mirror this time, but directly—bare and unshielded, just like earlier—I felt a shiver shoot down my spine. I felt a lot of hot, crazy, lust-filled emotions, but I did not turn to stone. To prove it, I raised my hand and cupped his square chin in my palm. “See, not stone.”

“I can’t believe it.I don’t…” Halvard said softly, and his gaze swirled as he stared into my eyes, nosunglasses between us. “You are immune.” Then he tossed his headbackand laughed in a wild, unfettered way that had me utterly entranced. The next thing I knew, I was swept off my feet and tumbled onto his unmade bed. He prowled on top of me, fire in his black eyes. “You are mine, darling. This proves it.”

A man had said that to me once before—claimed meashis. It hadn’t worked out, though I knew that Thorne still felt his claim held sway. It was absolutely terrifying to have a man repeat it to me once again, part of my brain certain that history was about to repeat itself. Then all concerns were swept away on a tide of passion: his mouth on mine, tongue sweeping past all my defenses. His hands roamed, stroking my curves, my waist, cupping my breasts. Then they began unbuttoning my pants.

I wasn’t even out of my coat yet. Theteakettle was still whistling with a gentle, pure note—a stark contrast tothe shrill toneofmy own kettle at home. Neither of us stopped to bother with any of it; we simply went up in flames together. His fingers slipped into my panties, accompanied by adeepgrowl from him and asoftsigh from me.After that, I could do nothing but writhe and moan beneath him as he worked my clit with expert precision. Any doubts I’d had about my sexuality after meeting Halvard vanished completely. I had never come for a man before—not without some help of my own—but this strange, sinfully sexy circus performer had made me shatter in less than a minute. Clearly, all it took was the right man.

Once the last shudders subsided, he slowly withdrew his fingers, raised them between us,and,while staring me straight in the eye, began to lick them clean. The obvious delight on his face gave mywhole body a flush, and I was still tingling like mad when,a few seconds later, scratching at the door interrupted the intense moment.

Chapter 5??

Halvard

I stared into Cammy’s unprotected, unshielded eyes for several moments, savoring her soft, pliant body beneath me, even as our gazes remained locked. She did not turn to stone—she was immune. Those facts still absolutely blew my mind, and I could vividly recall the terror I’d felt when she’d yanked my glasses from my face earlier. None of this should be possible, yet there she lay on my bed, pinned beneath me, her expression soft and rosy, filled with wonder. The scent of her arousalhungthick in the air, and my cockwasan aching bar pressing against her soft thighs.

When the scratching at the door came again, I groaned, not ready to end this moment. The noise made Cammy’seyelids lower, and the first stirrings of uneasecrossed her face. She was worriedaboutwho it might be,scared it was the manwhohad chased her across the carnival grounds. I rose, mybodyprotesting asthecold airreplaced the warmth of my soft, vulnerablegirl. Turning off the kettle on my way to the door, I felt the firststirrings of a smileon my lips. She was immune to my gaze—what a miracle.Still, Ipicked up my enchanted glasses andslippedthem ontomy face before Ireachedthe door.

“I’m coming, Hogzy,” I said when the scratching came again, a little more roughly this time, so that the Airstream rocked on its footing. I cast Cammy a glance over my shoulder as I opened the door and saw that she had risen and begun to fastidiously straighten her clothing. She looked delectable,with her coat askew and her blouse half undone. I couldn’t even recall doing that, but I was definitely responsible for her open pants and wet panties, which I could smell, much to my delight, even from across my small home.

Opening the door, I was greetedbya blast of cool air and a loud snort from my best buddy. Hogzy raised his head,hissnout pulled into a grin,hisblack eyes glittering, and then he barreled inside. The step gave him only a small pause, as did the tight squeeze through the door. Then he was inside, and I leaned out to lock eyes with our chef, Eugene, who wasstanding in the shadows next to his own home. When he gave me a nod and a wink, I knew the job hadbeen done. “Mission accomplished?” I asked Hogzy anyway and was greeted with another loud snort.

“Groink,” he said and butted his head against my thigh. I had to brace myself or risk getting knocked over, especially when his second nudge was even firmer. I knew what he wanted, but my eyes caught on something dangling from one of his tusks. I ducked down and caught his snout in my hand so I could free the scrap.

“I’ll get you your apples. A promise is a promise,” I told him as I raised the scrap to the light to study it. Black, muddy, but the delicate pinstripes were still visible. “Where did you get this, buddy?” Of course,my pet boar wasn’t going to answer that, and I had a suspicion I knew anyway. I dropped the scrap on my table and moved to one of the high cabinets where I kept my apples—well out of Hogzy’s reach,or he’d destroy my furniture to get to them.

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